The Diplomat: Last week, as the Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid triumphantly declared 2025 “a year of diplomatic success,” the claim was received with predictable laud from the movement’s echo chambers. But to anyone observing Afghanistan with even minimal distance from the Taliban’s propaganda, the opposite is true. Far from consolidating power or gaining legitimacy, the Taliban spent 2025 losing allies, credibility, and deepening their pariah status on the world stage. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: In an open letter addressed to the special rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council, the activists said the Taliban administration has pursued policies that deliberately marginalise and suppress the use of Persian, one of Afghanistan’s two official languages. The letter raised concerns about what it described as linguistic and structural discrimination, accusing the Taliban of imposing Pashto across education, administration and other public spheres. The activists said these policies have deprived Persian speakers of equal participation, fair access to public services and social standing. 
Amu: Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the Taliban-run interior ministry, said three local residents and one employee of a mining company were killed in fighting in Chah Ab district. Five others were wounded, he said. Qani said the Taliban deputy governor for Takhar had travelled to the area to investigate the incident. Mining operations at the site have been suspended while inquiries continue, he added. 
Afghanistan International: Pakistan’s military spokesperson said Afghanistan became the region’s primary hub for terrorism in 2025, accusing militant groups based there of driving a sharp rise in violence. He added that Pakistan’s concerns have gained international acceptance. The military spokesperson said Afghanistan has become a safe haven for smugglers as well as regional and international terrorist groups that, he alleged, operate from Afghan soil against neighbouring countries. 
8am: For more than four years, the Taliban have carried out widespread arrests, assassinations, and extrajudicial killings, while forcibly disappearing former military personnel. Despite mounting evidence, the group has consistently dismissed investigative reporting by the media, human rights organizations, and field and visual documentation, labeling them as baseless accusations. Recently, the Hasht-e Subh Daily documented a video recording of a covert member of the Taliban intelligence. In the footage, the intelligence operative openly discusses the killing of a person believed to be a student and describes, in disturbing detail, the exchange of clothes, the method of murder, and the payment of cash to the attacker.